What's worth fighting for out there

Need for Blogs?

  

I have to admit to being the ultimate wall flower.  Drama Queen? Scene stealer?  No, more like stage hand, behind the scenes, curtains, in the dark is more like it.  Solitary confinement would not be a problem for me as long as I had unlimited access to reading material.  That said, a blog is almost as bad as a crowded room.  I have no problem until I have to hit the submit button. Something so final about that action.  When I think of blogs, I have visions of historical journals, Diary of Anne Frank, Journals of Lewis and Clark, and oddly, also Avatar. I never feel I have anything of import or interesting to say compared to those.  I also have reservations about writing.   When I taught English, I learned much more about my students through their writings than speaking to them on a daily basis.  I tend to second guess everything I write.  On a scholarly level, I can see the need for a blog.  Connecting to people on a personal, but yet controlled basis is important.  Schools are seen as an extended community and the need for communication is vital for many reasons.  Cooperation is needed to gain trust, a relationship, and working partnership.  A blog can allow others to see the person behind the title.  People, teachers, students, parents and the community, can see the person behind the title.  The leader seen as a person is not such a target.  People are much more forgiving of mistakes if the intent is known also.  Steady, mass communication can keep control of the message.  Public relations can be a key and vital role for success.  A blog can be maintained on a regular basis and allows for feedback from followers also.  Sometimes people just like to have an outlet, to be heard or to feel like someone is listening.  It isn't always about You (the leader), and the blog isn't really either.  It is about your audience.  Feedback is important.  Perception is not always the same for everyone, and a blog will reveal that.  

Research Action Plan

    According to Dana, N.F. (2009) pg. 13  and Ralph Waldo Emerson, "what you do speaks so loudly that no one can hear what you say."    This is the basic premise behind action research.  It involves five steps. One must "seek out change by posing questions", gather information, study the data and read pertinent information, alter behavior, and inform others of results.  Dana, N.F. (2009) pg. 2-3
   A plan with a stated goal and measurable objective gives a much needed sense of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment than a simple research that sits gathering dust on a shelf with quotes from outdated research materials.  Quite frankly, no one reads those except to reference more studies. The action research plan is not only an objective and plan but also the strategy implemented to resolve a stated problem.  Dana, N.F (2009) cites Sparks' (2002) citation of Educational Research Service's 1999 publication Professional Development for School Principals,  staff development should be "long-term, planned, and job-embedded; focuses on student achievement, supports reflective practice; and provides opportunities to work, discuss and solve problems with peers."(pg. 8.3)  I have done 25 years of in-services and concur with that statement.  (which is why I went to so much trouble to go through the triple citation!) Too often reports are done for the sake of paperwork's sake, meetings are done to meet an agenda and could usually take fifteen minutes instead of the requisite forty-five minutes to an hour's time, but an action research plan is definite and finite.  It has a definite beginning, middle and end.  Its stated goals are clear and concise.  As leaders of schools, we are expected to lead in a specified direction.  Test scores establish much of that direction or current if one wants to mix metaphors, which I tend to do quite often.  Having problems identified, data studied, strategy determined and plan implemented shows strength of that leadership. Great schools do not just happen by accident.  Leadership can make a school by identifying needs and addressing those needs with a plan.   I believe the plan does not have to be done in isolation however.  I have seen many principals in mentorship within a school and other schools who have shared best practices.  Reaching out to others who may have already resolved an issue or problem can save a great deal of time.  Thomas Edison said something to the effect he didn't fail 10,000 times, but rather he found 10,000 ways that won't work meaning the process of elimination.  A research plan can cut the failure rate of those 10,000 failures especially if shared.

 

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010).   Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education. 

Martin, G., Danzig, A., Wright, W., Flanary, R., & Brown, F. (2012) School Leader Internship: Developing, Monitoring, and Evaluating Your Leadership Experience. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.